2015 UltraVasan Preview

Deeply rooted in history (think future king of independent Sweden escaping on skis 500 years ago), the Vasaloppet is the world’s oldest and largest Nordic ski race, with more than 15,000 participants. Last year, the Vasaloppet organization introduced UltraVasan, a 90-kilometer (56-mile) footrace on the same historic route followed by the ski race. The mostly dirt- and gravel-road course is flat and fast with local resident Jonas Buud covering the course in a hair over 6 hours in 2014.

We’ll be in Sweden to cover the race live, which starts at 5 a.m. Central European Summer Time on Saturday, August 22nd. That’s 9 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time on Friday, August 21st in the U.S.

Thanks to the Vasaloppet organization for making our coverage possible.

2015 UltraVasan Men’s Preview

It should be a serious race at the front of the men’s field at UltraVasan, where Jonas Buud and Max King have to be the favorites. Both are extremely strong runners on both the road and the trails with great results within the past year.

Jonas Buud

Among Jonas Buud’s (pre-race interview) recent top results are a win at the inaugural UltraVasan last August and a second place at IAU 100k World Championships last November (interview). Buud claims that his run at UltraVasan was one of his best runs ever and that’s from a guy that’s also been second at Comrades, second at Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, and second twice at the 100k World Championships. If there’s a course suited to Buud, it’s UltraVasan. Why? Because Buud essentially lives on the course. Last year, he won the race in 6:02:03. That’s a heck of a time for 90k off pavement, no matter how flat those kilometers are! Buud tends to run within himself, working his way up late in races. That could be a huge advantage with him knowing the UltraVasan course like the back of his hand.

Max King

Max King is, well, Max King. (pre-race interview) He’s also the only guy to beat Buud at last year’s 100k World Championships (interview, race report), where he ran a North American record at the distance. However, since then King’s not raced much at high-profile trail events and hasn’t had the best results when he has. For example, he was ninth at the Lake Sonoma 50 Mile in April and way back at last month’s US Mountain Running Championships, where he was, admittedly, a bit worn out from directing the race, too. King’s faster than Buud on paper, but can he turn his season around and beat Buud on the Swede’s home turf? We’ll see on Saturday!

He’s not yet a household name, but Norway’s Didrik Hermansen is working in that direction. After taking second at Transgrancanaria in March, he won the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in June (interview). In between, he was 10th at the IAU Trail World Championships in May. Last November, Hermansen was 21st at the 100k World Championships, some 40-plus minutes behind King. The Norwegian was fourth at the inaugural UltraVasan last year.

Matt Flaherty

Matt Flaherty comes to UltraVasan from the speedier side of ultrarunning with particular strength at 50 miles (80k). He was the USATF Road 50 Mile National Champ in 2013 while also taking third at the USATF Trail 50 Mile National Championships last year. That said, he’s been set back most of the first half of this year with a foot injury. He’s got a 5:28 PR for 50 miles on the road, but even if at 100% that wouldn’t likely put him ahead of a dueling Buud and King.

Like Flaherty, France’s Emmanuel Gault is a stud at race distances from 70 to 80k. He won three 80k’s in the first half of 2015, including improving by 5 minutes to a 5:35 at EcoTrail de Paris, which he also won in 2013. Back in 2011, Gault won the CCC.

In addition to Hermansen, two more Norwegians from last year’s UltraVasan will be racing this year. Jarle Risa took third last year in 6:23, and was 14th IAU 100k World Champs in 2011 with a time of 7:01. John Henry Strupstad took fifth at UltraVasan last year in 6:28 and was the 2013 Norwegian marathon champion. Last November, he was 15th at the IAU 100k World Championships in 7:04.

2015 UltraVasan Women’s Preview

Unfortunately, the top of the women’s field has been pared by injury–Jo Meek of the U.K. and Mimmi Kotka of Sweden–and administrative policies–Holly Rush as she’ll be racing for the U.K. at the 100k World Championships just a few weeks later.

With those women out, Swiss runner and former Olympic Nordic skier Jasmin Nunige looks to be the clear favorite on the women’s side. Including her win a few weeks ago, she’s now a six-time winner of the 78-kilometer Swiss Alpine Marathon. If she’s racing anything, it’s most likely to be Holly Rush’s course record of 7:09:04.

Comments

Sweden is great! And Mora is a cute little town with a few nice coffee places and restaurants. I have done the Vasaloppet twice, and the Tjejvasa ("girl Vasa", the last 30 k of the course) once. Last year I finished all three main events, the Vasaloppet, the Cykelvasa (same course by bike) and the Ultravasa. Each event was perfectly organized, which is amazing if you think about the number of competitors, 15,000 skiers in the Vasaloppet alone, starting at the same time!! The Ultravasa was no different, well organized, great atmosphere. It's a beautiful course although there is not a lot of single trail and it can get very very wet as you run through marsh a lot. Personally I prefer a more mountainous course with more single trail but it was really cool to do the same course on ski's, by bike and on foot!

How cool that you come here to cover the race! I have been following your coverage of our sport for years and you provide an excellent service. I'll make sure to come by and say hi to you guys if you are still around when we midpackers stumble across the finish line. Weather here now is really nice compared to last year and I think the course can be dry and fast. With both Max and Jonas racing I think we will see sub six hours this year.

@feartheshako – if you want to do the race on skis, you could train using only roller skis on pavement and still be able to finish without too much problem. I did just that last year when there was very little snow leading up to the race. I wasn't fast and it hurt, but still a great experience.